province of Huesca
{{Short description|Province of Spain}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Huesca/Uesca Province
| native_name =
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| type = Province
| image_skyline = Lago de Marboré.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = The Marboré lake with the Monte Perdido and the Cilindro de Marboré in the background
| image_flag = Flag of Huesca (province).svg
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| image_shield = Coat of Arms of Huesca Province.svg
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| image_map = Huesca in Spain.svg
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Map of Spain with Huesca/Uesca Province highlighted
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| coordinates = {{coord|42|10|N|0|10|W|region:ES_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}}
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Spain
| subdivision_type1 = Autonomous community
| subdivision_name1 = {{flagicon|Aragon}} Aragon
| established_title =
| established_date =
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = Huesca
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 15626
| area_rank = Ranked 6th
| area_note = 3.10% of Spain
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| blank_name_sec1 = Language(s)
| blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Aragonese, Catalan
| population_footnotes =
| population_total = 219,345
| population_as_of = 2018
| population_rank = Ranked 43rd
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = Oscense
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Huesca ({{langx|an|Uesca}}; {{langx|ca|Osca}}), officially Huesca/Uesca,{{Cite web |url=http://benasque.aragob.es:443/cgi-bin/BRSCGI?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=178900081009 |title=Nombre oficial de la ciudad según la ley de creación de la comarca de Hoya de Huesca/Plana de Uesca - (BOA 27/2002, 26 de noviembre) |access-date=2011-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203162003/http://benasque.aragob.es:443/cgi-bin/BRSCGI?CMD=VEROBJ&MLKOB=178900081009 |archive-date=2009-02-03 |url-status=dead }} is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca.
Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Hautes-Pyrénées. Within Spain, Huesca's neighboring provinces are Navarre, Zaragoza, and Lleida.
Geography
File:Penya-falconera.jpg" or the "Peña Falconera" rock formation ({{langx|es|El Huevo de Morrano}}).]]
Covering a primarily mountainous area of 1 E10 m², the province of Huesca has a total population of 219,345 in 2018,{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor/base-profile/aragon|title=Aragon|last=jiriarte|date=2010-07-16|website=ec.europa.eu|language=en|access-date=2018-03-17}} with almost a quarter of its people living in the capital city of Huesca. The low population density, 14.62/km², has meant that Huesca's lush valleys, rivers, and lofty mountain ranges have remained relatively pristine and unspoiled by progress.
Home to majestic scenery, the tallest mountain in the Pyrenees, the Aneto; eternal glaciers, such as at Monte Perdido; and the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, rich in flora and protected fauna. Popular with mountaineers, spelunkers, paragliders, and white water rafters, it is also a popular snow skiing destination with notable resorts in Candanchú, Formigal, Astún, Panticosa, and Cerler.
=Lakes=
History
The Romans colonised the province of Huesca, which formed the northern part of Hispania Tarraconensis, and continued to live there well into the 5th century until the arrival of the Visigoths. As a mountainous frontier region, it was difficult to dominate. The northern counties had at one time belonged to the Kingdom of Navarre but split off and managed to stem early Moorish invasions in the Middle Ages by forming alliances between themselves and with the Franks, to become Frankish feudal marches. The imperative of sovereignty, or independence, for the northern border counts, gave rise to the Kingdom of Aragon, which was the precursor to the Empire or Crown of Aragon, and ultimately the Kingdom of Spain.
Administrative divisions
The modern day province comprises 10 comarcas and 202 municipalities.
| bgcolor="silver"
! Comarca!! Capital City | |
| Alto Gállego | Sabiñánigo |
| Bajo Cinca | Fraga |
| Cinca Medio | Monzón |
| Hoya de Huesca | Huesca |
| Jacetania | Jaca |
| La Litera | Tamarite de Litera |
| Monegros | Sariñena |
| Ribagorza | Graus, formerly Benabarre |
| Sobrarbe | Ainsa and Boltaña |
| Somontano de Barbastro | Barbastro |
The following comarcas having their capital in Huesca Province include municipal terms within Zaragoza Province:
Population
The historical population is given in the following chart:
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ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:30
PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:280
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
AlignBars = late
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ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10 start:0
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color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till
bar:1877 from:0 till:256 text:256,425
bar:1887 from:0 till:261 text:260,585
bar:1900 from:0 till:255 text:255,100
bar:1910 from:0 till:265 text:264,984
bar:1920 from:0 till:266 text:265,603
bar:1930 from:0 till:258 text:257,777
bar:1940 from:0 till:247 text:247,135
bar:1950 from:0 till:238 text:237,681
bar:1960 from:0 till:234 text:234,014
bar:1970 from:0 till:222 text:221,761
bar:1980 from:0 till:215 text:214,907
bar:1990 from:0 till:208 text:207,810
bar:2000 from:0 till:207 text:206,502
bar:2010 from:0 till:226 text:225,962
bar:2020 from:0 till:223 text:222,687
TextData=
pos:(35,20) fontsize:M
text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"
Language
Spanish is the primary language in the province. However, the local linguistic varieties in the center and north of the province (often called fabla) belong to the Aragonese language, which now survives mainly in the northernmost comarcas, such as the Aragon Valley in Jacetania, the Alto Gallego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza, where hitherto landlocked and isolated villages have helped the language to thrive into the 21st century.
In the easternmost areas of the province, varieties of the Catalan language are spoken, with a few transitional dialects difficult to classify as Aragonese or Catalan.
See also
Notes and references
{{Reflist}}